Nikia Betts was killed and her 4-year-old son wounded in a shooting Friday evening that also left a man injured in a West Side Austin neighborhood alley.
The shooting happened at 5:19 p.m. in the 5200 block of West Kamerling, police said. Betts, her son, and a 19-year-old man were on a porch, and started walking down the alley when gunmen “ambushed” them, firing about a dozen shots, according to Chicago Police and witnesses.
The boy ran back down the alley and alerted relatives to the shooting.
They found Betts, 28, with a gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died about half an hour later 5:54 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Nikia Betts | Facebook
The boy and man were both shot in the arm, police said. They boy was taken to Stroger Hospital and the man to Mt. Sinai Hospital, both in good condition.
The gunmen drove away in a silver Chevrolet Impala.
Betts and her son lived on the same block.
No one was in custody as Area North detectives investigate.
The boy was at least the 21st child 13 or younger to be shot in Chicago this year.
His mother, known to friends as “Kia” or “OnTheRoadToSucceess,” was a caregiver for Arlington Heights-based Abcor Home Health, and a graduate of Roberto Clemente High School who later attended the Illinois School of Health Careers.
A $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction is being offered by Chicago anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes. Anyone with information can call (800) 883-5587.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago